Relocation guide
Dallas vs Chicago
In short
The Census median gross rent for a one-bedroom, utilities included, is $1,393 across Dallas-Fort Worth and $1,246 across the Chicago metro (ACS 2020–2024). Texas has no state income tax; Illinois charges a flat 4.95%. Dallas and Chicago share Central Time, so tours happen in your own hours. Figures checked October 2026.
Updated October 2026 · Source: U.S. Census Bureau (ACS 2020–2024), U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (2024 price parities), NOAA (1991–2020 normals), the Texas Comptroller and the Illinois Department of Revenue
Rent, everyday prices, taxes, winters and the train ride to work, compared between Chicagoland and Dallas-Fort Worth, with each number sourced and dated.
By Joon Ma, designated broker, TREC #709941
Rent: where Chicago comes out lower
On rent, the Census medians are higher in Dallas-Fort Worth than in the Chicago metro, at every size in the table. Both columns use the Census Bureau’s metro areas, Chicago-Naperville-Elgin and Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, from the same five-year survey.
| Bedrooms | Dallas-Fort Worth | Chicago metro | DFW is higher by |
|---|---|---|---|
| Studio | $1,388 | $1,211 | $177 |
| 1 bedroom | $1,393 | $1,246 | $147 |
| 2 bedrooms | $1,660 | $1,444 | $216 |
| 3 bedrooms | $1,934 | $1,699 | $235 |
| All rentals | $1,614 | $1,430 | $184 |
For a one-bedroom, the difference between the medians is $147 a month; for a two-bedroom, $216. The Chicago metro the Census uses reaches into northwest Indiana and counts the city and its suburbs together, just as the DFW figure counts Dallas, Fort Worth and every suburb.
Both are medians of what renters pay now, including people who signed long ago, across apartments, houses and duplexes. A unit listed this month can ask more or less. We check each community’s current rent by phone before it goes on your list.
Inside DFW, the medians vary. The one-bedroom median gross rent is $1,354 in the city of Dallas and $1,226 in Arlington. Every city we cover has its own table, and the suburbs guide lines them up.
Everyday prices: close to even
The U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis publishes Regional Price Parities, a price level for each metro area with the U.S. average at 100. For 2024, released February 19, 2026:
- All goods and services
- Dallas-Fort Worth 103.1 · Chicago metro 103.6
- Housing rents
- Dallas-Fort Worth 117.9 · Chicago metro 112.0
Overall, the two metros sit within one point of each other, both just above the national average. Housing rents are where they differ, and DFW’s index is the higher one, which matches the Census medians above. If cost is part of why you are relocating, weigh rent together with taxes, below.
Illinois taxes and Texas taxes
Texas has no state personal income tax: Article 8, Section 24-a of the Texas Constitution, added in November 2019, forbids one on individuals’ net incomes. Illinois taxes individual income at one flat rate.
- Texas
- No state income tax. Sales tax: 6.25% state rate, with local rates of up to 2% on top (8.25% at most).
- Illinois
- Income tax: a flat 4.95% of net income, in effect since July 1, 2017. Sales tax: 6.25% state rate on general merchandise and 1% on qualifying drugs and medical appliances; local rates add.
Both states start sales tax at the same 6.25% before local rates. The income tax is where they part: once you live and work in Texas, there is no state income tax return to file here.
For the year you move, Illinois has its own rules for part-year residents; check them with the Illinois Department of Revenue or a tax professional. This page sums up published rates and is not tax advice.
From the L and Metra to DART and the regional lines
- Average one-way commute
- Dallas-Fort Worth 27.9 minutes · Chicago metro 30.3 minutes
- Share commuting by public transportation
- Dallas-Fort Worth 0.7% · Chicago metro 7.5%
Chicago has the L, plus Metra’s commuter lines out to the suburbs. In the Chicago metro, 7.5% of workers take transit; in DFW, 0.7% do. Plan on a car in most of DFW, unless you put home and work on the same line.
Downtown Dallas is where DART’s four light rail lines, Red, Blue, Green and Orange, all meet. Beyond them, DFW has regional lines that cover longer distances. The Trinity Railway Express has run between Dallas Union Station and Fort Worth’s T&P Station since 1996. TEXRail opened in January 2019 between downtown Fort Worth and DFW Airport. The A-train, opened in 2011, runs from Trinity Mills in Carrollton to downtown Denton. The Silver Line, opened on October 25, 2025, crosses the northern suburbs from Plano to the airport.
Some main highways charge tolls, among them the Dallas North Tollway and the President George Bush Turnpike. The North Texas Tollway Authority runs them, and its TollTag gets reduced rates.
Driving down with your car? According to the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles, new residents have 30 days after arriving to register a vehicle (checked October 2, 2026), and Collin, Dallas, Denton and Tarrant counties are among those that require an emissions inspection before registration. See your first 30 days in DFW for the license and the rest.
Flights home to Chicago
Both of the metro’s airports link to rail, which helps if you fly back to Chicago for work or family. At DFW Airport, Terminal A has the Orange Line, and Terminal B has both the Silver Line and TEXRail.
Dallas Love Field, northwest of downtown Dallas, connects by DART shuttle to Inwood/Love Field station, a stop on the Green and Orange lines. If flights shape your week, Near DFW Airport covers the cities around the larger airport. Medical District to Love Field by car: Maps: minutes, weekday 5 p.m..
Job centers you can reach by rail
Several of DFW’s job centers sit on rail lines, so if you would rather not drive every day, you can choose a city by its station. Drive times are without traffic (rush hour adds time) and train times come from Google Maps at a weekday hour; both are filled in before the page goes live.
The Medical District, in Dallas
The Southwestern Medical District/Parkland station, next to Parkland Memorial Hospital, is on the Green and Orange lines, with shuttles to the medical centers nearby. The Green Line runs north from there through Farmers Branch to Carrollton. Downtown Carrollton to the Medical District on the Green Line: Maps: minutes by train, weekday 8 a.m..
Downtown Dallas
All four light rail lines cross downtown, and the Dallas neighborhoods of Deep Ellum and Uptown are next to it. From Irving, the Orange Line comes in through Las Colinas. Las Colinas Urban Center to downtown on the Orange Line: Maps: minutes by train, weekday 8 a.m..
Richardson and the north side
CityLine/Bush station, where the Red Line and the Silver Line cross in Richardson, sits at the north end of the Telecom Corridor on US 75. Plano and Addison have stations on one line or both. Addison to CityLine/Bush on the Silver Line: Maps: minutes by train, weekday 8 a.m..
Downtown Fort Worth
The Trinity Railway Express runs from Dallas Union Station to Fort Worth, where TEXRail also ends. If you will work in Fort Worth, look there or along TEXRail in Grapevine. Dallas Union Station to T&P Station on the TRE: Maps: minutes by train, weekday 7 a.m..
Lewisville and the A-train
The A-train stops at Old Town and Hebron in Lewisville before it meets the Green Line at Trinity Mills, so a home in Lewisville can still mean a train ride to work in Dallas. Hebron station to the Medical District, with a change at Trinity Mills: Maps: minutes by train, weekday 7 a.m..
Winters and summers compared
NOAA’s 1991–2020 normals put January at O’Hare at 25.2°F on average and July at 75.4°F, with 37.86 inches of precipitation a year. At DFW Airport, January averages 46.3°F and July 85.7°F, with 37.01 inches (NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, checked October 2, 2026).
That is a January about 21°F warmer and a July about 10°F warmer, with nearly the same yearly precipitation. The heat is the adjustment: ask how each unit is cooled and what summer electric bills usually run there.
Touring in the same time zone
Dallas and Chicago both run on Central Time, so there is no math to do: a 10 a.m. tour here is 10 a.m. for you. You can call a leasing office during your own workday.
We start before you travel. We call the communities that match your budget and move-in date, confirm what is open and send you the photos and floor plans they allow us to share. On a video tour, ask to see the thermostat, the windows in the afternoon sun and the walk to your parking spot.
If you come down in person, plan the visits by area: the northern suburbs one day, Fort Worth and Arlington another.
Leasing before you leave Illinois
Begin about 45 to 60 days before you want to move in. Most communities won’t hold a unit longer than that, because their current residents give about 60 days of notice.
Qualifying rules are each community’s own. A frequent one is household income of about three times the monthly rent, measured on the full rent. If you don’t have Dallas pay stubs yet, ask us which communities take an offer letter, and ask before paying an application fee.
Register the community with us before your first visit, on the register page, or put AptViva on the guest card. Most communities pay a locator only when you name it at that first visit; that payment is why our help costs you nothing.
The trip south and the last few miles
Booking the trip from Chicago to Dallas is up to you. The 3 hours of moving we include at participating communities are local, inside Dallas-Fort Worth only. They help with the last step, for example from a short-term rental in DFW to your apartment. Or choose the cash option instead. Restrictions apply. See terms
Tell us where
One clear request is enough to start. A licensed agent reads it and gets back to you the way you asked.
We also look in
A licensed agent will get back to you the way you asked, and will build your list from there.